RadioShack comms head departs for JPS Health

FORT WORTH, TX: RadioShack comms head Merianne Roth has departed the embattled electronics retailer to take on the role of VP and chief strategy officer at JPS Health Network.

In the newly created position at JPS, Roth is reporting to president and CEO Robert Earley. She said she started in the role in mid-June, immediately after leaving RadioShack.

She did not elaborate on her responsibilities in the new position.

Roth joined RadioShack in July 2013 as VP of strategic communications, overseeing corporate communications, community relations, internal communications, and event marketing.

RadioShack has no immediate plans to fill Roth’s position, Jeanna Corley, VP of marketing operations at RadioShack, said via email.

"I was sad to see [Roth] leave," Corley said.

Before working at RadioShack, Roth was VP of marketing and communications at the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau since 2011. Earlier in her career, she served as director of consumer brand marketing and publicity at JCPenney and senior PR manager at Pier 1 Imports.

In February, RadioShack filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and shuttered about 3,000 stores. However, its brand will live on in nearly 1,800 locations through a negotiated "store-in-store" model with buyers Standard General and Sprint.

RadioShack’s website states that its online store will return soon.

"We are just over 100 days in, so everything is still coming together," Corley said.

Last month, RadioShack hinted at future plans by launching a social media campaign with the hashtag #RadioShackisBack. The brand has been posting product deals and endorsements from celebrities including Carlos Mencia and Orlando Jones on its Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag.

Jones appears in a YouTube video with a song about RadioShack’s return.